Reports: Pictures in Rhode Island teen sexting case made their way to Russian porn site

A Rhode Island teenager is facing charges related to a lurid child sexting case involving 43 local girls, including some whose pictures found their way to a Russian pornography website, according to authorities and published reports.

The 16-year-old Burrillville boy appeared before a Family Court judge Thursday on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography and was released on home confinement, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin’s office.

The youth was ordered to have no contact with the victims and refrain from using the Internet except for school purposes, Kilmartin’s office said.

Glenn S. Sparr, a lawyer for the teen, did not immediately respond to inquiries seeking comment. Authorities did not name the boy because he’s a juvenile.

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He was charged after a three-month investigation in which authorities uncovered an account on Dropbox, an online file sharing program, that contained sexually explicit photos and videos of the girls, some as young as 13, the Providence Journal reported Thursday.

The boy allegedly managed the account and shared the images with friends.

Burrillville police Colonel Stephen J. Lynch told the Journal that the account has been disabled but some pictures have resurfaced on a Russian porn site, and “there’s not a damn thing we can do.”

Lynch did not immediately return a call Friday morning. Attempts to reach school officials for comment were unsuccessful.

Both criminal counts that the teen faces are “felonies and subject to sex offender registration,” said Kilmartin’s spokeswoman, Amy Kempe, in an e-mail. The defendant is due back in court for a pretrial conference Oct. 3.